Udo Schaefer

Udo Schaefer (1926–2019) was a German lawyer and one of the most prominent contemporary scholars of the Bahá’í Faith. He initially studied music but turned to law in 1950. After earning his degree from Heidelberg University, he worked as a judge and later as a practicing lawyer, retiring in 1988.

Schaefer grew up in a family with a Catholic background but without formal religious instruction. In his youth, he was particularly interested in philosophy and aesthetics. In 1948, he embraced the Bahá’í Faith and later earned a doctorate in religious studies. His doctoral dissertation focused on a comparative study of Bahá’í law and canon law.

From the 1950s onward, Schaefer delivered numerous lectures and seminars in Germany and other countries, primarily addressing academic audiences. He served as a representative of the Bahá’í community to the United Nations in 1985 and 1992 and for many years acted as a legal advisor to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Germany.

Schaefer played a significant role in the development of Bahá’í religious scholarship. His work focused mainly on Bahá’í beliefs, the concept of the human being, and the relationship between religion, law, and ethics, with the aim of fostering interreligious dialogue. He was also one of the leading translators of Bahá’í texts into German.

In his analysis of the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, Schaefer regarded them as criteria for evaluating legal systems, particularly in the Western world. He argued that certain punishments, such as capital punishment and life imprisonment, represent final and irreversible measures, whereas penalties like exile may offer offenders an opportunity for rehabilitation and the reconstruction of their lives.